Harry Potter and the Core of Neptune
by Torokeru
Summary: Harry and his friends are witnessing strange things. (I stink @ summarys!) R/R! I NEED REVIEWS SO I KNOW WHAT MY MISTAKES ARE AND IF PEOPLE (SO FAR) LIKE IT. It will get more exciting, I promise.
1. An unusually short summer

Disclaimer: All the characters belong to J.K. Rowling, not me!  
  
  
  
Harry Potter awoke with a start. There was a loud banging noise on his door.  
  
"Come on boy! Get up!" It was his Aunt Petunia.  
  
Harry couldn't think of one reason that she would be waking him up this early, the clock read 5:14 am. He quickly put on his glasses and his clothes and simply walked down the stairs. He was in no rush.  
  
"Hurry up!" His aunt barked at him.  
  
"Coming…" Harry replied in the middle of a yawn.  
  
"Moooom! WHY did you get us up so early?!" His…plump…cousin Dudley was now trudging down the stairs behind him creating a loud THUMP with every step.  
  
He continued, "It's MY birthday and I want to sleep in!"  
  
"Well…" His mother gave him a warm look "…your father and I have gotten you a big surprise!"  
  
" You did?" Dudley's face looked considerably brighter at the mention of a surprise.  
  
" Yes, as a matter of fact we did!" Uncle Vernon interrupted "We…are going on a vacation for the rest of the summer!"  
  
"A vacation?" Dudley looked a bit skeptical "Where?"  
  
"To the beach!"  
  
Harry then snorted as he tried to imagine Dudley in a pair of swim trunks.  
  
Dudley then folded his arms in disgust. Seeing this Aunt Petunia then added "But-but we can also go other places nearby as well!"  
  
"Like an amusement park?" Dudley was sniffing now, trying to do a sort of fake cry.  
  
"Yes! Yes of course" Aunt Petunia added in a hurry.  
  
Uncle Vernon quickly added "And Harry, you will not be coming."  
  
Harry was not at all surprised by this.  
  
"Your…friends…the Weasels or something… " He sounded like he had a very hard time saying the word 'friends' "…have contacted us and have offered for you to stay at their house for the rest of the summer. They have said that they will be coming our normal way."  
  
Harry nearly fainted with relief. He was not going to stay with Mrs. Figg!  
  
Indeed he had received a letter from Ron a couple weeks ago saying that his parents were trying to contact his aunt and uncle.  
  
"Now! Hurry up and eat breakfast! We have to catch the plane!"  
  
Harry quickly gulped down his single egg and ran back up the stairs to get his things. This was great! He would be staying at Ron's for the rest of the summer! And so early in the summer to!  
  
With not much to carry Harry was back downstairs in fifteen minutes. He settled himself down on his trunk and peered out the window. Shortly the peace was disturbed by a whine from the kitchen.  
  
"WAIT A MINUTE! WHERE ARE MY OTHER PRESANTS?!"  
  
"Well Dudley they're packed in one of our suitcases so you can open them at the hotel."  
  
"BUT I WANT THEM NOW!!!!!"  
  
Just then the honking of a horn coming from the road distracted Harry. He could see four red heads in side a green van.  
  
"The Weaslys are here!" Harry yelled. The screaming in the kitchen immediately stopped, for Dudley had just run up the stairs to hide.  
  
Mr. Weasly, Fred, George, and Ron got out of their car just as Harry, Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia walked out of the house.  
  
"Hello there!" Called Mr. Weasly's cheerful voice  
  
"Good day." Uncle Vernon grunted.  
  
"Hey Harry!" Ron walked up to him. "How's your summer been?"  
  
"Fantastic, Ron." A grin spread over Harry's face and they laughed.  
  
"Well Harry, better load up." Said Mr. Weasly, sensing the uncomfortableness in Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia.  
  
Fred and George helped Harry stuff his belongings into the trunk. Then Harry looked back up at the house. He could see Dudley's pudgy little face peeking out of the window. Fred had obviously noticed him too.  
  
"Nice to see you again Dudley!" He called up to him.  
  
Dudley immediately shut the window and closed the curtains as Fred and George started sniggering.  
  
Seeing that Fred and George were starting to fool around Mr. Weasly said, "Well we better get a move on. Every body get in! Nice to see you again Mr. and Mrs. Dursley."  
  
"Bye" Harry added.  
  
"Bye." Uncle Vernon grunted so Harry could barely hear him.  
  
Then they all got into the van and drove off. It felt good to be leaving number four Privet Drive Harry thought, very good. 


	2. At the Weasly's

"So Harry, have you had a good summer?" Mr. Weasly asked about five minutes into the car ride.  
  
"Er…yeah Mr. Weasly, it's been…umm…great." Harry replied while exchanging a grin with Ron.  
  
"So, what did you do all summer?" Ron asked him.  
  
"Absolutely nothing. I'm just glad the Dursleys allowed me to let Hedwig out at night" He shot a glance back at Hedwig who was riding in her cage in the back seat. Harry thought she looked just as happy as he did to get away from the Dursleys.  
  
The rest of the trip was made in silence (probably because every one felt car sick from Mr. Wesley's driving), with the exception of Fred or George's occasional comment on Dudley.  
  
About an hour later they reached the Weasley's house, The Burrow. Soon they pulled up into the driveway and everybody got out and stretched.  
  
"Your lucky we came to get you Harry. We had to get up at four o' clock." George said while yawning.  
  
"Why did you come then? Couldn't you have just let you dad and Ron go?" Harry asked skeptically.  
  
"Nah." George pulled what looked like a canary cream out of his pocket "Couldn't pass up the chance. Too bad he didn't come out of the house.  
  
Just then Mrs. Weasly came running out of the house.  
  
"Harry!" She screamed "It's so nice to see you again!"  
  
"Nice to see you too Mrs. Weasly." Harry called back.  
  
"Come in, come in!" She said to all of them "Percy and Ginny are inside."  
  
"And Hermione's coming in a week." Rod added to Harry.  
  
Inside Ginny and Percy were sitting at the table.  
  
"Hello Harry." Percy walked up to him and extended a stiff hand "It's very nice to see you again."  
  
"Erm…Nice to see you too." Harry replied taking him hand.  
  
"Why don't you all sit down and have something to eat, you must be starved!" Mrs. Weasly was now bustling around in the kitchen, her wand out, cooking. Everybody took their seats and started eat their waffles. After breakfast they went out for a short walk in the back yard but a rouge gnome who came out to terrorize them when they walked past its hole interrupted this quite quickly. Before long it was time for lunch. When Harry and Ron came in only Fred and George were there hovering over a particular bowl of soup.  
  
"What are you to up too?" Ron asked them.  
  
George was quick to reply, "Nothing, just helping mum get lunch ready. She's made soup!"  
  
Just then everybody else arrived and took their seats.  
  
"Fred, George, would you pass out the soup?" Mrs. Weasly asked.  
  
Fred replied, "Sure thing mum!" He had a slight grin on his face and Harry suspected that Mrs. Weasly had done the exactly wrong thing because they had given that particular bowl of soup to Percy. Soon all the bowls of soup were passed out and every body was eating, Harry and Ron were picky through some suspicious looking vegetables and crackers. Finally Percy ate a spoonful of soup with a large piece of cracker in it and soon after…*POOF*…he had turned into a canary.  
  
Fred leaned over and whispered to Harry, "Well, we had to do something with that extra cream!"  
  
After that the week flew by with nothing else that exciting.  
  
***  
  
On Sunday right on time Hermione arrived with her neatly kept trunk and Crookshanks in her arms.  
  
"Hello!" She greeted them.  
  
"Hi Hermione!" Ron and Harry said back.  
  
"So anything happen that I missed?"  
  
"No, except Fred and George turned Percy into a canary. That's about it. I think he deserved it though. He's got to lighten up." Ron had a grin on his face.  
  
"Canary cream?" She asked.  
  
"Yeah." Now Harry and Hermione were grinning. " They've got to clean up after the ghoul for the rest of the summer!" (There were two weeks left in the summer) "So you should hear explosions coming from the attic instead. That ghoul breaks stuff all the time!"  
  
Harry laughed. "Then this should be an interesting two weeks."  
  
After Hermione was settled in Ginny's room they let Crookshanks out to chase some gnomes for Mrs. Weasly. Then they sat on the porch and talked.  
  
"So nothing strange happed to you Harry?" Hemione asked him.  
  
"No." He replied looking skeptical "Were you expecting something?"  
  
"Well, you usually wake up with odd dreams or your scar hurting."  
  
"It is true." Ron pointed out.  
  
"Well nothing happened." Harry knew it was true that every summer he usually did wake up with his scar hurting for one reason of another but he was not going to admit that.  
  
"Alright." Hermione looked a little unsure of whether to believe him or not.  
  
It was now almost seven o' clock and getting dark.  
  
"Hey!" Ron suddenly shouted, "Look at that!"  
  
"Look at what?" Harry was confused.  
  
"That!" Ron pointed in the direction opposite the setting sun "It's a shooting star!" Indeed it was. And a very bright one at that.  
  
"That's odd!" It was just the thing Hermione would say, "It's too early for a shooting star! They're not supposed to appear until at least eight!"  
  
Ron rolled his eyes at this "Since when are you a master at astronomy too?"  
  
Hermione choose to ignore this comment.  
  
"Dinners all most ready!" Called Mrs. Weasly from the kitchen "We're eating out side again!"  
  
Harry just ducked in time because that second two tables came whizzing over his head. They landed gracefully on the ground next to the garden where two gnomes came out of the bushes and started to just on the table, Crookshanks in hot pursuit. Mrs. Weasly saw what was going on and rushed out with a tablecloth in hand. Ron had to dive out of the way to avoid her.  
  
"Shoo! Shoo!"  
  
The gnomes jumped of the table and Mrs. Weasly caught them by their feet then threw them over the fence.  
  
"Wow, nice throw mom. You've almost got Harry beat." Fred had just walked out with George following. They both stepped over Ron.  
  
"Will you people watch where you're walking?! I've nearly been trampled twice!"  
  
Harry noticed he was turning red with rage.  
  
"Sorry little brother!" George called back.  
  
Soon every one had taken their seats at the table and soon everyone was done. The rest of the nothing much happened. In fact, in the rest of the week nothing much happened. Until September first when they boarded the Hogwarts Express. 


	3. Journey to Hogwarts

"Everybody wake up!!!" Mrs. Weasly came marching up and down the hallway continually knocking on everybody's door. "Let's get a move on! We're behind schedule already!"  
  
Harry woke up and felt around for his glasses and put them on. Then after stumbling and tripping found his way out to the hall. Mrs. Weasly and Hermione were the only ones up so far but soon Ginny changed that as she came stumbling out to join them. Next came George followed by Fred and finally Ron.  
  
Harry was amazed. "How can you sleep through that?" He asked him.  
  
Ron replied casually "We're used to it."  
  
They all made they're way down to the kitchen and soon enough were back upstairs packing.  
  
"I hate getting up early!" Complained Ron.  
  
Harry rolled his eyes "I thought you could sleep through it."  
  
"Most of the time. If you noticed I did wake up"  
  
After a hurried breakfast they were sent upstairs to pack. After five minutes Hermione walked in trunk and all.  
  
Ron was eyeing her trunk "You've finished already?!"  
  
"Yes, and I see you haven't." She spoke in a matter-of-factly tone.  
  
"Very observent of you." Ron replied.  
  
Harry shook his head now that Ron and Hermione were arguing everything seemed in pace. Well, except for the fact that they weren't at Hogwarts yet. Harry couldn't wait to get on the train. And soon enough Ron and Hermione were moving out the door down the stairs towards the Weasly's car. Harry had just now taken the time to think about where Mr. Weasly had gotten the car.  
  
"Mr. Weasly? Did you rent the car from the Ministry?" Harry asked him  
  
"Yes Harry we did. I guess there just weren't that many people interested in using them today." Said Mr. Weasly while putting Hedwig in the trunk. Then Hermione, Ron, Harry, Ginny, Fred, and George climbed into the car.  
  
Soon they were all in and on their way. Yet again Mr. Weasly's crazy driving shut them all up all except for Mr. Weasly himself who kept on trying to make conversation. All attempts failed until Mr. Weasly said:  
  
"So Harry, have you heard? They've nearly got Sirius Black tracked down."  
  
Harry, Ron, and Hermione's jaws dropped "What?!" They said in unison.  
  
"That's right! They nearly have him!" Mr. Weasly looked very proud to be the first one to tell him this.  
  
Harry, Ron, and Hermione just stared at each other. "We'll talk later." Ron whispered to Harry seeing the look on his face."  
  
Indeed when they got out of the van the trio trailed behind the rest chatting. "They can't have caught Sirius!" Harry complained rather loudly.  
  
Hermione tried to quiet him as people were starting to stare "Shhhhhhhhhh!"  
  
Harry continued "They just can't have! Know one else knows he's a…you know…"  
  
Now Ron looked really worried "Er…maybe it's just a rumor?" It was obvious Ron didn't believe what he just said. Harry noticed this as well and just sighed and shook his head.  
  
In two minutes they were at the now familiar barrier between platforms nine and ten. They looked around. Neville was next in line for the barrier he and his Gran pushing his cart. They casually walked up to the barrier but just as they were a foot away Neville tripped and fell into the barrier. His legs were now sticking out of the barrier with his front half nowhere to be seen. A few people who looked like they were from the ministry tried to conceal this as best they could. Soon his feet were dragged into the barrier (probably by his Gran, Harry thought), and everything was back to normal. Harry and Ron then filed into the barrier with Mrs. Weasly and Hermione behind them. The rest had gone ahead.  
  
They made it through the barrier with no trouble at all and soon faced the gleaming scarlet Hogwarts Express. Mrs. Weasly was now hurrying about giving them hugs and kisses good-bye.  
  
"Have a good term!" She called as they boarded the train" AND YOU TWO BEHAVE!" She added to Fred and George.  
  
Ron checked his watch "Three minutes to eleven." he said  
  
"Yeah," Harry added "We're gonna have a hard time finding a seat."  
  
They looked up and down the rows of compartments, all were filled but one was notable. There was a girl that looked about their age, though Harry had never seen her before, sitting by herself. She had light brown shoulder- length hair and when she turned toward Harry to see who had opened the door he could see that she had brilliant green eyes.  
  
"Er…sorry, I didn't think there was anyone in here." Harry stuttered.  
  
"Quite alright." She replied very calmly. And Harry closed the door. They all stood there for a second with puzzled looks on their faces.  
  
Hermione broke the silence "Either of you seen her before?"  
  
"Nope." Harry and Ron replied in unison as they continued they're search. They soon found an empty compartment near the back. From what they could tell it was the only empty compartment left.  
  
"So," said Harry immediately striking up a conversation "how could they have tracked Sirius?"  
  
"I dunno." Ron and Hermione both replied, not wanting to disappoint Harry any further.  
  
"Come on guys!" Harry urged them. "Think! We've got to stop them!"  
  
"Harry hold on!" Hermione said slowing him down. "Why don't you send a letter to Si-" But Hermione was cut short by the door sliding opened. Ginny walked in.  
  
"Um, hi?" She said "All the other compartments are full so can I-" But Ron cut her short.  
  
"GINNY!" Ron appeared to be outraged "Have you ever heard of knocking?! And you can not join us!" Ginny immediately slammed the door and hurried out.  
  
"Ron!" Hermione was appalled "That was mean! She's your sister!"  
  
Harry didn't know what to think of this, so he just left his mouth shut as an argument raged on until the witch with the food cart came past. She practically had to yell to be heard. Harry rushed toward her with his moneybag to provide a distraction to Ron who was now screaming.  
  
"I WOULD LIKE SOME CHOCOLATE FROGS!" Harry yelled while turning to look at Ron. They instantly stopped and walked up to purchase some sweets. The rest of the trip was spent in talking about the new quidditch season, their homework and who would fill in for the dark arts until they finally came to a stop and Hagrid could be heard yelling "Firs' years over here!" 


End file.
